Published: Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 10:50 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 10:50 a.m.

When Joe Blair talks about his military resume, there's parts he can't mention. That comes with the territory when you spend nearly 30 years as an intelligence officer in the United States Army.

And Blair was a good one.

The Flat Rock resident retired from the Army in 1994, but his service wasn't forgotten. The retired colonel was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in September.

He began getting calls about the honor nearly four years ago, but resisted. Then a call from a fellow officer, Colonel Don Lunday, changed his mind.

“He said, it's not about you,” Blair recalled. “It's about the people that want you to be here.”

Blair agreed and got the call about the Hall of Fame late last summer. He went to a familiar place to accept the honor - Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The military base is the home of the Army Intelligence Corps.

Blair was also surprised with the Knowlton Award, given out of respect from superiors, subordinates and peers for service in the military intelligence field. The award was named after Thomas Knowlton, who served as George Washington's intelligence officer during the Revolutionary War.

Blair was honored by the people who attended the ceremony. There were soldiers who served under him, his superiors and some enlisted soldiers who served with him in Vietnam.

“It was just a wonderful thing,” Blair said. “The bottom line is it's really not about me. It's about them.”

Blair, however, can't deflect attention from his resume. He spent a career not only taking part in military intelligence, but at times became one of the builders of modern military intelligence tactics.

Dad's influence

For Blair, it all began when his dad returned home from World War II. Joe Blair II came home in his Army uniform and his son took notice.

“When he came home that was a very, very big event for me,” Blair said. “That made a big impression on me.”

As a 3-year-old, Blair remembers vividly his amazement at his dad's uniform. It wasn't always at the forefront his mind, but it simmered somewhere deep.

“It may not have been on the surface, but it was in my subconscious for sure,” he said.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Blair's interest always turned to history and studying maps. That continued throughout high school and college.

After high school, Blair went to Kent State University and joined the university's ROTC program. Even then, he wasn't sure that the military was the direction he was going to take. During the summer of 1963 – the summer before his senior year of college – that all changed.

He attended a summer cadet camp where he was appointed as an officer. It was in those moments when he handed out orders and those orders were followed that Blair knew what awaited him after graduation.

“I wanted to be an infantry man,” Blair said.

Life as a soldier

Blair immediately joined the Army after graduation and his top two choices were infantry and armor. His dad suggested that he look into the military intelligence field.

He took his dad's advice and made intelligence his third choice. That third choice would become his career.

Blair was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and reported to Fort Hood in Texas. He spent his first two years in the Army as a company commander for the 1st and 13th armor division at Fort Hood. He educated himself about the different facets of the Army.

His next stop was Fort Holabird in Baltimore, Md. Fort Holabird was the original home of the Army Intelligence School before it moved to Fort Huachuca. Now a captain, he took two courses on Combat Intelligence and Counter Espionage and Counter Intelligence.

In 1967, Blair got his first chance to use the skills he'd learned when he shipped out to Vietnam. He was placed in command of 44 soldiers whose responsibilities were to gather intelligence and do reconnaissance. His unit was a part of the 4th Infantry Division and operated all over the Central Highlands in Vietnam.

“Basically we were trying to find out who the bad guys are and what they were doing,” Blair said. To do this, his men went into the jungles with a Vietnamese partner to gather as much intelligence as they could. The missions were dangerous.

“That aged me because I always worried about them,” he said.

Blair didn't lose anyone in combat, but saw many die, he said. War was ugly, and it put aside any notions of glory and honor that many young officers seek. That became glaringly clear the first time his intelligence unit had to search the dead bodies of enemy soldiers.

“The first time you do that, it gets to you,” Blair said.

But overcoming fear is the only way to survive war, he added. Everyone is scared when they're going into combat, but you can't let it consume you.

“You're scared and frightened, but you learn to control that,” he said.

His next four years were filled with education. He returned to Fort Holabird for an intelligence course and then went to graduate school at the University of Colorado.

In 1971, he found himself on the other side of the world again. Blair served first in the J3 in Korea. As a captain, he gave 4-star General Mike Michaelis briefings each morning. J3 was the operations division of the Army. He then served as the J2 and gave the general intelligence briefings.

After two years, he returned to the Army Intelligence School, which had been relocated at Fort Huachuca. This time, however, he wasn't going there as a student - he had been selected to redo the combat intelligence courses.

“I would go around the world and interview the people in combat jobs,” Blair said. He was promoted to major and was also teaching courses at the school.

He spent the next decade at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Carson and teaching at the University of Michigan. He was also promoted to lieutenant colonel. He spent two years in the 1980s as the Army's highest-ranking intelligence officer in Panama, and his office overlooked the Panama Canal.

In 1983, Blair was tasked with “fathering” an intelligence battalion. The battalion, 25th infantry, was nicknamed the Tropic Lightning. A battalion consists of four companies. Two were already in existence at the Scofield Barracks in Hawaii.

The four companies that made up Blair's battalion were the A Company (interceptors, communications and jamming), B Company (radar and long-range reconnaissance), C Company (maintenance) and the headquarter company.

“That was so much fun,” Blair said. “You can see the results of your policies and training commands. You're right there with your soldiers.”

He finished out his career with stops as a student and teacher at the U.S. Army War College, as a brigade commander at Fort Huachuca and as a commander at Fort Hood. In his final stop at Fort Huachuca, two airfields of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were under his command. Those devices are known as drones today. They were being developed and studied during his time in Arizona.

As soon as Blair got to Fort Hood, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Blair and other commanders were tasked to get the largest armor corps in the Army prepared for Desert Storm.

He finished his career in the Army as the course director of all operational level and strategic war fighting courses at the U.S. Army War College. He was also an instructor. Blair, then a colonel, and his wife, Catherine, retired to Flat Rock in 1994.

A grateful commander

As he sat in his home last week, Blair deflected any attention. The honor bestowed on him by the Army in September was not won by him alone. It belonged to every soldier he worked with along the way, Blair said.

“You don't do anything significant by yourself,” he added. “My reward was being teamed with great Americans for 30 years.”

The same wide-eyed love amazement he felt as a boy still persists today, but with even greater sense of enchantment.

“I have the same respect,” Blair said. “Maybe more because I've been around it now. People that put on that uniform and protect this country are special people. I have a great love for soldiers.”

<p>When Joe Blair talks about his military resume, there's parts he can't mention. That comes with the territory when you spend nearly 30 years as an intelligence officer in the United States Army.</p><p>And Blair was a good one.</p><p>The Flat Rock resident retired from the Army in 1994, but his service wasn't forgotten. The retired colonel was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in September.</p><p>He began getting calls about the honor nearly four years ago, but resisted. Then a call from a fellow officer, Colonel Don Lunday, changed his mind.</p><p>“He said, it's not about you,” Blair recalled. “It's about the people that want you to be here.”</p><p>Blair agreed and got the call about the Hall of Fame late last summer. He went to a familiar place to accept the honor - Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The military base is the home of the Army Intelligence Corps.</p><p>Blair was also surprised with the Knowlton Award, given out of respect from superiors, subordinates and peers for service in the military intelligence field. The award was named after Thomas Knowlton, who served as George Washington's intelligence officer during the Revolutionary War.</p><p>Blair was honored by the people who attended the ceremony. There were soldiers who served under him, his superiors and some enlisted soldiers who served with him in Vietnam.</p><p>“It was just a wonderful thing,” Blair said. “The bottom line is it's really not about me. It's about them.”</p><p>Blair, however, can't deflect attention from his resume. He spent a career not only taking part in military intelligence, but at times became one of the builders of modern military intelligence tactics.</p><p>Dad's influence</p><p>For Blair, it all began when his dad returned home from World War II. Joe Blair II came home in his Army uniform and his son took notice.</p><p>“When he came home that was a very, very big event for me,” Blair said. “That made a big impression on me.”</p><p>As a 3-year-old, Blair remembers vividly his amazement at his dad's uniform. It wasn't always at the forefront his mind, but it simmered somewhere deep.</p><p>“It may not have been on the surface, but it was in my subconscious for sure,” he said.</p><p>Growing up in Pennsylvania, Blair's interest always turned to history and studying maps. That continued throughout high school and college.</p><p>After high school, Blair went to Kent State University and joined the university's ROTC program. Even then, he wasn't sure that the military was the direction he was going to take. During the summer of 1963 – the summer before his senior year of college – that all changed.</p><p>He attended a summer cadet camp where he was appointed as an officer. It was in those moments when he handed out orders and those orders were followed that Blair knew what awaited him after graduation.</p><p>“I wanted to be an infantry man,” Blair said.</p><p>Life as a soldier</p><p>Blair immediately joined the Army after graduation and his top two choices were infantry and armor. His dad suggested that he look into the military intelligence field.</p><p>He took his dad's advice and made intelligence his third choice. That third choice would become his career.</p><p>Blair was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and reported to Fort Hood in Texas. He spent his first two years in the Army as a company commander for the 1st and 13th armor division at Fort Hood. He educated himself about the different facets of the Army.</p><p>His next stop was Fort Holabird in Baltimore, Md. Fort Holabird was the original home of the Army Intelligence School before it moved to Fort Huachuca. Now a captain, he took two courses on Combat Intelligence and Counter Espionage and Counter Intelligence.</p><p>In 1967, Blair got his first chance to use the skills he'd learned when he shipped out to Vietnam. He was placed in command of 44 soldiers whose responsibilities were to gather intelligence and do reconnaissance. His unit was a part of the 4th Infantry Division and operated all over the Central Highlands in Vietnam.</p><p>“Basically we were trying to find out who the bad guys are and what they were doing,” Blair said. To do this, his men went into the jungles with a Vietnamese partner to gather as much intelligence as they could. The missions were dangerous.</p><p>“That aged me because I always worried about them,” he said.</p><p>Blair didn't lose anyone in combat, but saw many die, he said. War was ugly, and it put aside any notions of glory and honor that many young officers seek. That became glaringly clear the first time his intelligence unit had to search the dead bodies of enemy soldiers.</p><p>“The first time you do that, it gets to you,” Blair said.</p><p>But overcoming fear is the only way to survive war, he added. Everyone is scared when they're going into combat, but you can't let it consume you.</p><p>“You're scared and frightened, but you learn to control that,” he said.</p><p>His next four years were filled with education. He returned to Fort Holabird for an intelligence course and then went to graduate school at the University of Colorado.</p><p>In 1971, he found himself on the other side of the world again. Blair served first in the J3 in Korea. As a captain, he gave 4-star General Mike Michaelis briefings each morning. J3 was the operations division of the Army. He then served as the J2 and gave the general intelligence briefings.</p><p>After two years, he returned to the Army Intelligence School, which had been relocated at Fort Huachuca. This time, however, he wasn't going there as a student - he had been selected to redo the combat intelligence courses.</p><p>“I would go around the world and interview the people in combat jobs,” Blair said. He was promoted to major and was also teaching courses at the school.</p><p>He spent the next decade at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Carson and teaching at the University of Michigan. He was also promoted to lieutenant colonel. He spent two years in the 1980s as the Army's highest-ranking intelligence officer in Panama, and his office overlooked the Panama Canal.</p><p>In 1983, Blair was tasked with “fathering” an intelligence battalion. The battalion, 25th infantry, was nicknamed the Tropic Lightning. A battalion consists of four companies. Two were already in existence at the Scofield Barracks in Hawaii.</p><p>The four companies that made up Blair's battalion were the A Company (interceptors, communications and jamming), B Company (radar and long-range reconnaissance), C Company (maintenance) and the headquarter company.</p><p>“That was so much fun,” Blair said. “You can see the results of your policies and training commands. You're right there with your soldiers.”</p><p>He finished out his career with stops as a student and teacher at the U.S. Army War College, as a brigade commander at Fort Huachuca and as a commander at Fort Hood. In his final stop at Fort Huachuca, two airfields of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were under his command. Those devices are known as drones today. They were being developed and studied during his time in Arizona.</p><p>As soon as Blair got to Fort Hood, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Blair and other commanders were tasked to get the largest armor corps in the Army prepared for Desert Storm.</p><p>He finished his career in the Army as the course director of all operational level and strategic war fighting courses at the U.S. Army War College. He was also an instructor. Blair, then a colonel, and his wife, Catherine, retired to Flat Rock in 1994.</p><p>A grateful commander</p><p>As he sat in his home last week, Blair deflected any attention. The honor bestowed on him by the Army in September was not won by him alone. It belonged to every soldier he worked with along the way, Blair said.</p><p>“You don't do anything significant by yourself,” he added. “My reward was being teamed with great Americans for 30 years.”</p><p>The same wide-eyed love amazement he felt as a boy still persists today, but with even greater sense of enchantment.</p><p>“I have the same respect,” Blair said. “Maybe more because I've been around it now. People that put on that uniform and protect this country are special people. I have a great love for soldiers.”</p>